President-elect Donald Trump.
Credit: Jean ParkLeges sine moribus vanae: Laws without morals are useless.
This Latin phrase — Penn’s motto — was no doubt imparted on 1968 Wharton graduate, former President, and President-elect Donald Trump during his two years at our University. And yet, as Trump takes the reins for a second term as president, it’s clear that the United States faces an imminent future governed by laws devoid of the moral compass that once guided us. The election results mark the beginning of policies that will place a significant burden on communities like ours here at Penn and in Philadelphia.
America has made a choice — an unequivocal one at that — but it is not a choice for which The Daily Pennsylvanian Editorial Board stands.
The immediate implications of the choice to make the 45th president our 47th president cannot be understated. His return to the White House will free him from the shackles of ongoing prosecution for countless criminal charges. His presidency will be emboldened by two prior impeachment acquittals, unburdened by a conviction on 34 felony counts, and unpunished for his incitement of the Jan. 6, 2021 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol Building.
But Trump’s victory is not only a personal one. He will sweep into power with a resounding Republican majority in the U.S. Senate and likely control of the House of Representatives. This rightward shift, supported by millions of Americans, leaves Penn’s campus and Philadelphia a stalwart blue island in a sea of red. But even our island is eroding: This year, Trump notched the strongest performance on campus of his three presidential campaigns.
The Penn community is not immune to the consequences of Trump’s reign. In fact, its effects will be felt more quickly and acutely than during the first Trump administration. The president-elect’s allies have spent years preparing for a popular mandate like this one, crafting a roadmap for the next Republican president that will make opportunities less attainable for female, LGBTQ+, low-income, minority, and international students, and many more communities.
Female students will encounter more obstacles coming forward if they are the victims of sexual misconduct — as Trump will likely reinstate previous changes by his administration to Title IX that were reversed by President Joe Biden, reducing the types of misconduct universities must investigate and requiring such misconduct to be “objectively offensive” in order to be considered. They will face additional threats to their bodily autonomy, as the architect of the reversal of Roe. v. Wade returns to office with the potential for two more Supreme Court appointments that will secure the ideological tilt of the bench for generations. At a recent rally, Trump said, “Whether the women like it or not, I’m going to protect them.” His record speaks otherwise.
LGBTQ+ students are likely targets of threats to Title IX. Trump has proposed potential alterations to the definition of sex and policies that are expected to create a hostile environment for transgender people.
Trump’s policies could also pose additional difficulties for low-income students if he makes good on his stated opposition to student loan forgiveness and Pell Grants. His last administration undermined students’ ability to afford college when the U.S. Congress passed a round of tax cuts in 2018 eliminating direct-subsidized loans and weakening the Pell Grant program. The plans devised by Trump’s allies to eliminate the U.S. Department of Education will threaten federal funding of high-poverty schools and districts.
Immigrants and people of color will once again be subjected to dangerous rhetoric by Trump and those around him. Last week, a comedian at a Trump rally called Puerto Rico an “island of garbage.” Trump’s stance, already fuel for bomb threats on schools, will inflame a campus environment already pierced by racist, homophobic, and antisemitic attacks on students. Trump’s plan for the education system includes a decrease in resources that promote diversity, equity, and inclusion and race-related curricula.
International students will be subject to intense policing of political speech. Earlier this year, Trump vowed to “immediately deport” students who participated in pro-Palestinian protests on college campuses — rhetoric which follows his history of anti-immigrant policies and promises to execute the “largest deportation program in American history.”
As Trump prepares to take aim at policies that protect and empower countless students at Penn, it is no wonder that a sense of devastation and dismay is permeating through campus. These feelings are real and valid, but the election is not the end.
Rather, this is a wake-up call for Penn to confront the United States we didn’t choose. This is a chance to acknowledge the realities of a divided nation, but also its underlying anger. Trumpism is a product that sells in an angry, divided country — but it is imperative for us to maintain momentum and hope. Penn mobilized a significant portion of its student body in the months leading up to the election, with voter turnout well surpassing that of 2020. It is only by continuing to show up and organize that we can fight for a future in which all Americans, regardless of their personal identities, have the respect and rights they deserve.
Trump does not represent Penn. It is up to us to show that we stand for something different.
Editorials represent the majority view of members of The Daily Pennsylvanian, Inc. Editorial Board, which meets regularly to discuss issues relevant to Penn’s campus. Participants in these meetings are not involved in the reporting of articles on related topics. Reach us at edboardchair@dailypennsylvanian.com.
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